Influence and identity on Europe’s tense frontiers

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The sharpest conflicts in Europe today exist in the uncertain space between a resurgent Russia and Western-oriented states along Russia’s borders. They include the “frozen conflicts” in Moldova’s breakaway Transdniester region, Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, not to mention the ongoing warfare in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. How is Russia’s involvement in these conflicts affecting the surrounding society and politics, and how do residents of these places see their identity and their future? The 2016–2017 Vaclav Havel Journalism Fellows will share individual perspectives on their countries, these conflicts, and the challenges facing journalism in the region.

The Vaclav Havel Journalism Fellowship is an initiative of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and is generously supported by the Dagmar and Vaclav Havel Foundation VIZE97. Inspired by the late Czech leader’s belief in the transformational power of free speech and building on RFE/RL’s legacy of promoting more open societies through journalism, the Fellowship supports aspiring, independent journalists from countries within RFE/RL’s broadcast region.

This event is made possible by the generous support of the CSIS Russia and Eurasia program by Carnegie Corporation of New York.